Monday, March 03, 2014

Michigan's witness in gay-marriage trial barred - A short article details a huge embarrassment for those defending Michigan's ban on marriage equality. It's really their own fault though. The judge rules that a doctoral candidate isn't necessarily an expert witness yet and therefore cannot testify in support of the ban

Star Parker: Gays Forcing Christians 'Into The Closet' - Star Parker is the epitome of the perfect black conservative spokesperson. She leads an organization with probably herself as the only member and she doesn't do anything worthwhile but collect money and prestige for being the black face whenever conservatives and the religious right want to exploit the black community.

This ugly tweet, no doubt, is probably one of the reasons the Liberty Counsel is now an SPLC-designated anti-gay hate group

The Southern Poverty Law Center has added seven more anti-gay organizations to its list of anti-gay hate groups.

No doubt the standard whine of these groups will be the same one offered up by the Family Research Council when SPLC named it as a hate group a while back, i.e. "we are being attacked because we don't believe in gay marriage, we are trying to preserve Christian morality, we are being silenced."

That whine was a lie then and is still a lie. SPLC makes it clear that religious beliefs are not a reason why they call out these groups:

. . . the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods
— claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by
scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing
homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing
as hate groups.

The Pray in Jesus Name Project - This organization, as far as I am aware, is comprised of one person - Gordon Klingenschmitt.

Klingenschmitt has said that any judge ruling for marriage equality should be considered as a domestic enemy

He has also claimed that gay soldiers undermine the military because they have to stop in the middle of combat situations in order to change their diapers.

Klingenschmitt also said that people who are not going to heaven (i.e. lgbts) don't deserve equal protection under the law.

Mission America - another organization which is comprised of one person, Linda Harvey. Harvey is a former advertising executive who supposedly found religion. The filth coming out of her mouth includes the following:

claimed that same-sex couples use their kids as "props": "The kids are essentially props to be trotted out, sadly, at events like "pride" parades"

Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). According to Truth Wins Out:

Both the World Congress of Families and C-Fam have been vocally supportive of Russia’s anti-gay laws, with the WCF expressing support in a press release not long after the Duma’s final vote on the “propaganda” law. The World Congress also held a roundtable
in US House of Representatives office space recently in order to teach
American “pro-family” activists how to export their hate around the
world. Austin Ruse, president of C-Fam, expressed regret that the United States wouldn’t be able to start the sort of pogrom
against LGBT people that Russia has, as he praised Russia in their
efforts. It’s likely that the international activities of these groups
contributed heavily to the SPLC’s decision to label them hate groups.

The Liberty Counsel - If one wanted to pinpoint a single reason why the Liberty Counsel is on this list, they could point to Matt Barber, a member of the organization who attacks the lgbt community with extreme animus while at the same time, blending his homophobia with "homilies" of his faith. In the past, Barber:

and is responsible for pushing that vile tweet posted at the top of this article; the tweet which implies that gays want to molest Boy Scouts.

All in all, these groups have earned their designation as anti-gay hate groups. But let's not mistake what needs to be done. Kudos should be given to the Southern Poverty Law Center for calling these organizations out and pinpointing their deceptions and hatred of the lgbt community.

Now it is the job of the lgbt community to raise hell about it. In other words, let's not waste time complaining about who didn't get the designation of being an official anti-gay hate groups. Let's use what we have been given to educate and to break the connection between religion and homophobia.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.